Wednesday, November 30, 2011

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Unknown

Gratuitous photo of my cat!

As a pet owner myself, I am well aware of the emotional rewards of having a companion animal. When I learned that my favorite actor Alex O’Loughlin went and got himself a dog, I was quite pleased for him.

“I’m a homeowner here (in Hawaii). I have a dog. I think that’s even more significant than a wife or a child. Once you get a dog, where I come from, you know, ‘Well I’ve got a dog, I’m not going anywhere.’ I’ll always have a place here no matter what happens.” - Alex O’Loughlin

I wondered what kind of owner he would be. For some reason, I thought most Australian dogs were probably working dogs in the country. So would Alex put his little puppy in the backyard to fend off marauding pigs after the veggies in his garden?

Dusty walking Al.

In an interview I heard Alex mention his “bub” Dusty, the sad little face she gave him when he left his house, and feeling guilty for leaving her while he attended an event. Yeah, no worries for this pup. She’s already got him wrapped around her little paw.

Thanks to a few wonderful Australian surveys*, there are some assumptions we can safely make about Alex’s relationship with Dusty.

Over three-quarters of Australian pet owners surveyed claimed they are able to understand the sounds made by their animals. The survey also found that 95% of dog owners talked to their pets, while over 89% spoke to their cats.

1.3 million Australian dog owners would rather confide in their pet than their partner. Over half of Aussies with a partner think their dog is a better listener than their significant other. One in five Aussies sees their dog as a companion for life and one in ten perceives their pet as a child.

There’s an old Aussie saying: “If you insult the other half I won’t be happy, but if you insult the dog we’ll be out the back to sort it out.”

Post-doggie spa treatment

Companionship is the strongest motivation for people to own pets, two thirds exercise with them and more than half admit to sharing their bed with their pet. Other findings revealed that half of Australians buy their dogs presents for special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas, a quarter takes their dogs to a professional groomer. It’s also not uncommon to take their pets on holiday with them or put their pets in their will.

It seems nothing is out of reach for Australian pets and they now have a presence on social networking sites, with 4% of respondents having set up an online page for their pet and 36% featuring their pet on their PC screensaver or wallpaper.

Ok, Alex, if you don’t want to be on Facebook, can Dusty have her own page?

HAWAII FIVE-0 TIME and WEATHER

Alex O'Loughlin - Candid

My friend and I (Pam) visited The Back-up Plan set in New York in July 2009. After several minutes, it dawned on me that I had brought my little audio recorder. This is what I captured. Alex was about to do some filming and he stayed in character with his American accent. He talked about keeping in touch with his fans; he reacted to the book I sent him; he asked us if we wanted to "watch what we're doin." Then had to go back to work.
Alex O'Loughlin clipped

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What We're About

Welcome to O’Laughing Press, a blog with our personal opinions about the entertainment industry. The impetus to write down our observations and reflections comes from listening to actor Alex O’Loughlin commenting on his career, the industry and the strange circumstances of being a celebrity. We will post other ramblings as the mood strikes.